🇮🇷 Sánchez vs. Trump cage match

Also: Spain's startup nation, and could the King Emeritus return?

Madrid | Issue #138

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Two men enter; one man leaves

🥊 The “war” alongside the war

Round 1… Fight!

Pedro Sánchez has been spoiling for a fight with Donald Trump for more than a year. And now, at long last, the Orange Menace 😡 has noticed the Spanish PM and punched back — and their spat has been super entertaining, like a dinosaur duel in Jurassic Park: lots of blood and gnashing teeth but you know it’s CGI.

• But let’s not mock. This is a proper international incident and while we have severe doubts it will end with U.S. Navy Seals rolling up on the beaches of Málaga, this is the biggest diplomatic blow-up Spain has had in years. So… Party! 🥳

Let’s get into it. The ruckus started Sunday when El Independiente reported that the U.S. had withdrawn 15 tanker aircraft from its bases in Rota and Morón and moved them to Germany and France.

• Why? It soon became clear that Spain had refused to let the U.S. use its bases in the attacks on Iran. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said the bases couldn’t be used for operations outside Spain’s agreement with the U.S. and international law, and later called the attacks “absolutely unjustified” with no “clear objective.”

• The pushback was swift (and weeny). 😩 Trump pal Sen. Lindsey Graham bravely wrote on X that Spain’s government was “becoming the gold standard of pathetically weak European leadership.” Which is saying something, coming from a guy who has such a long, personal experience of being pathetically weak.

• No surprise. Also on Monday, Israel’s Foreign Minister accused Spain of “standing with Iran” and said similarly it had supported “all the tyrants of the world, as it did with Venezuela.”

That’s when things got hairy. The 🍊 Menace himself had a tantrum weighed in on Tuesday, threatening to cut off all trade with Spain (no more Fruit Loops? 😭) and even suggesting the U.S. might ignore Spain’s restrictions on the bases: “We could just fly in and use it.” Diplomacy at its finest.

• The nice fella’s words. Trump said he told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut off all dealings” with our “terrible” Iberian country: “We don’t want anything to do with Spain.” Subtle.

But not as hairy as they would get! On Wednesday, the Handsome Fellow (you know, Sánchez) got all Churchill (ish) and delivered a soaring address of his own defending his government’s refusal to support the U.S.-Israeli military offensive against Iran.

• Sánchez revived a phrase with political weight: “No a la guerra” (No to war). The slogan was used during the mass protests against the Iraq War in 2003 (which Spain took part in), and he repeated his argument that Spain wouldn’t back what he called a dangerous violation of international law.

• Without mentioning Trump by name, he pushed back against Washington’s threats. “We’re not going to be accomplices to something that is bad for the world, simply because of fear of reprisals from some,” he said (hint, hint).

• Not that we like Iran’s leaders. He also condemned Iran’s theocratic regime… but insisted that military escalation was not the answer. “Repudiating the ayatollahs does not mean supporting a war.”

The warnings kept coming. The White House escalated its rhetoric yesterday morning, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused Spain of “putting American lives at risk”. (He also called Spain a "freeloader” for failing to meet NATO’s defense spending target of 5% of GDP, but who's counting…)

So what’s really going on? Mr. Handsome, as we know, is unpopular inside Spain, and his government is drowning under a sea of corruption investigations. But with Trump being even crazier and more unpopular in Spain (and the rest of Europe), rebranding oneself as Mr. Handsome, Global Progressive Hero™ could trigger the so-called “flag effect” surge of domestic support in the face of adversity.

• Plus… As annoying as many find Sánchez, he looks to be on the right side of history on this one. And his speech made total sense.

But then the whole situation got even stranger. At a D.C. press briefing yesterday, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt claimed Spain had “agreed to cooperate militarily in recent hours”.

• Huh? While we were all scratching our heads about the sudden change of heart, Foreign Minister Albares, issued a denial, saying the statement was “categorically false.” So there’s…that?

Someone, please, think of the influencers. To end on a funny note (though not really ha-ha funny), influencers have discovered geopolitics the hard way and the internet doesn’t forgive.

• Spanish “content creators” who moved to Dubai to dodge taxes enjoy the rich local culture, suddenly began posting videos of explosions after Iranian strikes on their new home and commenting on their Instagram stories about uncertainty and fear.

• No sympathy. Instead of solidarity, many of the reactions online were brutally sarcastic, with comments like “Now let the Spanish embassy rescue you with the taxes you don’t pay.”

Let's just say that the internet’s patience for tax-friendly influencer lifestyles is… limited.

More news below. 👇👇

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💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 👑 Spain (or at least part of it) wants its ex-King back

Clearly, no one ever told Alberto Núñez Feijóo that you can’t go home again. After last week’s declassification of the 23-F papers showed former king Juan Carlos I — aka JC1 — playing a decisive role in stopping the 1981 coup attempt, the PP boss has been calling for the ex-monarch to return from his comfortable exile (and occasional Iranian bombing target) in Abu Dhabi.

• But, um, there are a few obstacles.

Bring him back. Feijóo went into full reconciliation mode on X, arguing that the documents “should reconcile Spaniards with the person who stopped the coup.” Yes, he’s made “undeniable mistakes,” Feijóo conceded — but someone who sustained democracy at a key moment deserves to spend his golden years “with dignity and in his own country.”

• Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso quickly chimed in that this is what “the immense majority of Spaniards” think. (Considering how often it is invoked, Spain’s immense majority must be exhausted by now.)

About those ‘undeniable mistakes.’ JC1 didn’t exactly leave Spain because he craved desert heat. In 2020, amid investigations into opaque offshore foundations, alleged commissions, and a $100 million Saudi-linked transfer, he decamped to Abu Dhabi.

• To be fair, he later paid more than €5 million to Spain’s tax man to regularize previously undeclared income. Prosecutors closed their cases, but the reputational damage was done.

• Bad boy. His son, Felipe VI, cut his allowance (€200,000 per annum!) and has spent the last decade trying to rebrand the monarchy so squeaky clean as to be almost Nordic.

Wait a minute. So not everyone is polishing the welcome mat. Especially the leftish parties opposed to the PP and/or monarchy in general.

• Minister of the Presidency Félix Bolaños welcomed JC1 to adulting, saying that “One thing does not erase the other.” As in, heroics in 1981 don’t prepay for later behavior.

• And ERC’s ever-quotable Gabriel Rufián was even clearer: “Criminals are better off outside than in.”

There are other problems beyond a shortage of welcome mats. Even if Juan Carlos wanted to return tomorrow, it wouldn’t be as simple as booking a one-way Iberia ticket.

• The Royal Household has delicately noted that while he is free to return, if he did, he would “in any case” need to reestablish tax residency in Spain — to safeguard both his own reputation and that of the Crown.

• 183 days. Spend more than that in Spain, and you’re a tax resident again. That means answering uncomfortable questions about who pays for all your private jets.

• The fact that the Casa Real is the one publicly reminding him about tax obligations suggests that, shall we say, enthusiasm for Dad’s triumphant return is not universal inside the palace walls.

And the family home. Then there’s Palacio de la Zarzuela itself.

• Juan Carlos has reportedly made returning to Zarzuela — his home for 57 years — a matter of principle. But it’s not just a family house. It’s the headquarters of the Spanish head of state.

• But, no. Back in 2020, it was agreed that he would not stay overnight there, precisely to shield the institution from further reputational damage. Reversing that now would require a massive small rethink.

Our guess? He’ll stay out of Spain 183 days a year. The rest of the calendar? Regattas in his beloved Sanxenxo. Medical visits. Long private lunches. We expect to see lots of JC1 — just not quite enough to interest Hacienda.

2. 🧑‍🔬 Is Spain really becoming a startup capital?

Spain has long wanted to grow its own Silicon Valley. Looking at the wealth boom in the original one south of San Francisco, who wouldn’t?

• But Silicon Valley is a brutal act to follow, and Europe is stuck in a low gear. London, Paris and Berlin have made a mark, and Barcelona is making a serious push, but still… Let’s just say there’s probably more VC money in one breakfast at Buck’s in Woodside than in Barcelona, Madrid, and the rest of Spain combined.

But that may be changing 🥳! The Financial Times just rolled out their 2025 ranking of Europe’s leading startup hubs, and not only is Iberia showing up — Spain and Portugal host 24 of the 150 ranked hubs — but an accompanying article (by our very own Friend of Bubble Lucas Laursen) lays out the shifting landscape in Spain.

• The simple message. The startup boom is leaking out of the usual suspects. Yes, Madrid and Barcelona still dominate the money (they accounted for 29 of 33 funding rounds/deals in January, per El Referente), but the FT–Statista 2025 ranking puts Valencia, Málaga and San Sebastián ahead of the big two — with Valencia’s accelerator Lanzadera landing in the top 10.

And the winner is… The article zooms in on Málaga, where founder Félix Martín-Aguilar is building Alqindoi (a “device as a service platform” — we love a good tech buzzword) out of BIC Euronova — an incubator founded in 1991 that has survived every apocalypse since the dotcom era — and is now plugged into Berkeley SkyDeck, a start-up accelerator at UC Berkeley, which gives Málaga startups a direct line to California without the “move to Madrid first” step.

• Why Málaga? It’s cheaper, it has engineering talent, local institutions are unusually supportive, and foreign founders are a bigger share of the ecosystem than in Madrid/Barcelona.

• The catch. Funding is still thin in smaller markets like Málaga, and weak English skills can sludge things. Still, as regions move into their second generation of founders, experience gaps should shrink — and Spain’s startup map gets more compelling.

Still, a ways to go. There were 654 venture capital investments in Spain last year, for a total of €1.7bn, up 54% from 2024 and the third best year ever, according to the industry association SpainCap. Which is great — until you consider that Europe overall got $68bn, while the U.S. pulled in $328bn 😱.

• And don’t count Barcelona and Madrid out! They also show up plenty in the FT ranking, led by Madrid’s Tetuan Valley. Which, incidentally, did not accept our application for the latest cohort. NOT THAT WE’RE BITTER. (We will absolutely apply again because, you know… cough... We need funding.)

3. 😔 Five students die on Santander’s coast after a walkway collapse

Late Tuesday afternoon on Spain’s northern coast, a quiet walk along the cliffs of Santander suddenly turned catastrophic.

• At around 4:45 p.m., a group of seven students in their late teens and early twenties was crossing a wooden walkway along a coastal trail near Playa de El Bocal, a scenic stretch of shoreline just west of the city. The path winds along steep cliffs between the beach and the nearby oceanographic institute, offering sweeping views of the Cantabrian Sea.

As the group stepped onto one of several wooden platforms built along the cliffside, the structure suddenly gave way beneath them.

• The collapsing walkway sent the students plunging several meters down onto jagged rocks and into the rough water below.

Emergency services arrived quickly. Within minutes, rescuers spotted two bodies floating about 25 meters offshore. Both young people had already died. Over the following hours, firefighters and maritime rescue teams recovered three more victims from the sea and the rocky shoreline. One young woman remains missing.

• The victims, aged between 19 and 22, came from regions across Spain, including Cantabria, the Basque Country and Almería.

• One survivor was pulled alive from the water and taken to the Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla, where she is being treated in intensive care for hypothermia and injuries.

The collapse occurred at Punta Cortada, a remote and rugged section of coastline along a popular walking route between the Cabo Mayor lighthouse and the fishing village of La Maruca.

• The wooden structures along the trail were installed more than a decade ago as part of a coastal path project intended to make the cliffs accessible to walkers.

• But their condition has long been questioned. Environmental groups and local organizations had repeatedly warned that several of the platforms were deteriorating and should have been removed years ago.

Search operations continued yesterday as firefighters, maritime rescue units, police and a government helicopter combed the rocky shoreline for the missing student.

• The effort has been complicated by strong waves and the jagged coastline, which make it difficult for divers to reach parts of the area safely. Authorities are also waiting for low tide, when the receding water could expose crevices and cavities among the rocks where the missing woman may have been swept.

4.🌡️ Relax, Pedro Sánchez is not dying (or so he says)

I'm not dead yet! Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been forced to deny one of the weirder political rumors circulating in Madrid this week — that he is secretly suffering from a serious heart condition and he may be dying. 🩻

• The whole thing began in a pretty surreal way. Sánchez has long been known for his unusually polished appearance. People gave him the nickname “Pedro el guapo” (“Pedro the handsome” or, as we like to call him, Mr. Handsome).

• But in recent months, observers have noted that he looks… skinnier. And that visible weight loss quickly became political speculation.

Some media outlets began publishing stories noting that the prime minister looked “demacrado” (gaunt) and suggesting the physical changes were the result of stress or health problems after years of governing amid scandals and political battles (which, if you read us, you will probably know are many).

• And the Marias said… Only a few weeks ago, a bunch of ladies who were greeting him at an event went full Spanish grandmother on him and told him he had to eat more because he was “too skinny”.

The rumor escalated when a popular right-wing online publication of dubious reputation (the kind we’d prefer not to link to here) claimed Sánchez had been receiving treatment for a serious cardiovascular condition at Madrid’s Ramón y Cajal hospital.

• From there, it spread rapidly across social media (of course) and talk shows. Soon, PP MP Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo (our very own Ice Queen — which we say with love) mentioned the story during a parliamentary session and demanded the government “declassify” the PM’s medical records (obvs a reference to the recent 23-F declassification).

The government initially tried to ignore the claims. But as more media outlets seemed to pick it up, Sánchez himself finally responded with a statement on X.

• Ye olde mud machine. “The far right and the right have been predicting the end of this government since day one,” he wrote, referring to the "mud machine” of criticism from the right (a fave complaint of his). “Now they are spreading hoaxes about my health.”

• Sánchez insisted he does not suffer from any heart disease, and said that even if he did, it would hardly be unusual, as millions of people live normal lives with such conditions thanks to public healthcare. 👩🏻‍⚕️

So there you have it. For those of you who miss the times when Sánchez didn’t look “gaunt” (which, to be honest, he does), here is a photo of him from back in the day. You’re welcome.

5. 🎬 Susan Sarandon got all political at the Goyas (and she got an award too)

Awards season. It was the 40th edition of the Goya Awards (the Spanish Oscars) this weekend, and Susan Sarandon received the International Goya, one of the Spanish Film Academy’s highest honors.

• The annual award recognizes a figure whose career has had a global cultural impact. In previous years, it has gone to actors like Cate Blanchett, Juliette Binoche, Sigourney Weaver, and Richard Gere. This year, it went to one of Hollywood’s most outspoken actresses. (More on that in a sec…)

Let us praise Susan. Sarandon may be known for films such as Thelma & Louise and Dead Man Walking, but she’s really in our hearts for the kitsch masterpiece that is The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Haven’t seen it? Well, you have an assignment. Tonight.

• Loving herself some Spain. At the Goyas, she used her acceptance speech (see video above) to praise Spain’s cultural life and what she described as the “moral clarity” of its public figures.

Cue the controversy. Sarandon has long been a lefty icon, and her political activism is widely known, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that she praised Pedro Sánchez (who, btw, was sitting in the audience 😉).

• Pouring it on. Wearing a pin in support of the Palestinian people, she contrasted the current political climate in the U.S. with what she sees in Spain. “In these days when the world is so dominated by violence and cruelty,” she said, “I look around and see your president and many artists speaking with such clarity, and it gives me strength.”

• But there’s more! Sarandon had already praised Sánchez a day before during a press conference in Barcelona, where she said he was “on the right side of history” for his criticism of the situation in Gaza.

• Awww…and a diss. Sanchéz tweeted that he was “moved” by her words in Barcelona, and the PP reacted by saying that the two have something in common: “They both act better than they govern”. Ouch 😂.

Whoopsie! Quoting historian Howard Zinn, Sarandon spoke during the ceremony about hope in difficult times, insisting that it is neither romantic nor naïve but rooted in historical truth.

• But there was a brief moment of awkwardness when a live translation slip mixed up the words “textual” with “sexual” while Sarandon was quoting Zinn, but the mistake was quickly corrected, and everyone sighed in relief.

Anyway, who won? The big winner was Los domingos (Sundays), a movie about a brilliant 17-year-old who shocks her family by abandoning university plans to become a cloistered nun. It’s directed by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, who took Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and two major acting awards — basically, Best Everything.

• Our own Oscar hopeful. Sirât, directed by Oliver Laxe, collected six awards, largely in technical categories, strengthening its momentum ahead of the Oscars, where it is nominated for Best International Feature Film.

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